Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on May 11 urged business leaders
to act in a socially responsible way, and he instructed the bureaucracy
to create better conditions for business, Interfax reported. "The
business community must be made to understand that they will feel
comfortable working in this country for years ahead," Fradkov said at a
cabinet meeting. "Pay taxes, create jobs, and invest, and the
government will provide normal conditions for business. We'll be
removing everything that impedes this as swiftly as we are
[identifying] these problems," Fradkov added. On May 10, President
Vladimir Putin called in his state-of-the-nation speech for more social
responsibility on the part of bureaucrats and entrepreneurs (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," May 10, 2006). BW

Sergei Ivanov said on May 11 that because of its size and position in
the world, Russia needs a large army, Interfax reported. President
Putin called in his state-of-the-nation speech the previous day for the
modernization of the Russian armed forces (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May
10, 2006). "We are destined to have a strong army. Strong and quite
large compared to countries with smaller territories," Ivanov said in
an interview published in "Komsomolskaya pravda" and cited by Interfax.
"We are too big a country, and we have too many unpredictable
neighbors. Besides, we are a nuclear power. Some like to compare us
with other countries: for instance, with the German army. But they live
in one time zone and we in 10," he added. BW

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said on May
10 that the "mood" has changed in the international community's efforts
to curtail Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions, mosnews.com reported the
next day. Churkin said the five permanent UN Security Council members
and Germany are focusing on putting together a package of incentives to
try to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis. This contrasts
sharply with recent talk about how many days Iran should be given to
halt uranium enrichment or face possible sanctions. "The mood has
changed completely," Churkin said, adding that the shift occurred
following meetings on May 8 and 9. "We are quite pleased that what
started basically as something which could be seen as trying to dictate
matters has turned into a process of dialogue," Churkin said. Russia
and China have resisted calls from the United States and European
allies for sanctions against Iran. BW

Federal Penitentiary Service head Yury Kalinin said on May 11 that
jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been moved out of
solitary confinement and back into the general prison population,
Interfax reported. In April, another convict allegedly slashed
Khodorkovsky's face, requiring stitches, after which he was placed in
isolation (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 18, 2006). "Following a
well-publicized incident, Khodorkovsky was placed in a separate cell
for security reasons. He has now been moved back into common barracks,"
Kalinin said. BW

Also on May 11, Kalinin dismissed claims by defense lawyers that
Khodorkovsky's life is in danger following the stabbing incident,
Interfax reported. "We see these statements as a publicity stunt," he
said. Kalinin also seemed to imply that Khodorkovsky was himself to
blame for the stabbing. "It was an ordinary argument -- people have
arguments sometimes, don't they?" Kalinin said. "One should be more
scrupulous in choosing company." BW

Federal Penitentiary Service head Kalinin also announced on May 11 that
the first group of prisoners freed under a special amnesty to mark the
100th anniversary of the State Duma have been released, Interfax
reported. "The release of the first prisoners has begun and the exact
figures will become known by the end of May," Kalinin said. He said
that approximately 14,000 people were covered by the amnesty, 11,000 of
whom had suspended sentences and 3,000 who were serving prison terms.
BW

A group of Ossetian women whose family members died during the Beslan
hostage taking in September 2004 staged a protest at Vladikavkaz
airport on May 10 and prevented 17 Ingush from boarding a flight to
Moscow, the independent website ingushetiya.ru reported on May 11,
citing newsru.com. The women have asked North Ossetian President
Taymuraz Mamsurov to make arrangements for Ingush to be barred from
traveling from Vladikavkaz and to use the airports in Mineralnye Vody
and Nalchik instead. The website commented that the Beslan Mothers'
action constitutes a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right
of all citizens to travel freely within the Russian Federation, and
argues that the Ingush authorities should ask the Prosecutor-General's
Office to bring criminal charges against them under Articles 136, 280,
and 282 of the Criminal Code. The latter two articles deal with calls
for "extremist activity" and fomenting animosity or hatred. LF

The Chechen Ministry for Nationality Policy, Media, and Information has
had printed and distributed to regional administrations 5,000 copies of
a questionnaire formulated in such a way that every possible response
reflects unequivocal public approval for Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov,
kavkaz.memo.ru and "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on May 10 and 11,
respectively. The questionnaire was reportedly distributed without the
knowledge of pro-Moscow administration head Alu Alkhanov, whom many
observers believe Kadyrov seeks to oust and replace. Following the
April 26 shoot-out between Alkhanov's and Kadyrov's bodyguards (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," May 2, 2006), President Putin summoned the two
officials on May 5 and warned Kadyrov not to seek to undermine
Alkhanov, the daily "Kommersant" reported on May 6, without naming its
sources. "Kommersant" also reported that Alkhanov has held talks with
former Grozny Mayor Beslan Gantamirov, who was fired as Chechen media
minister in 2003 following repeated disputes with Kadyrov's father and
Alkhanov's predecessor, Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
September 4, 2003). LF

A fifth member has quit the parliament faction of speaker Artur
Baghdasarian's Orinats Yerkir (OY) party, reducing its numbers to 14,
RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported on May 10. Four OY deputies quit the
faction last week, without explaining their motives for doing so (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," May 9, 2006). Baghdasarian last month incurred
President Robert Kocharian's displeasure by publicly advocating
Armenia's accession to NATO and the EU (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report,"
May 5, 2006). Some observers believe Kocharian ordered the four OY
faction members to withdraw their support for Baghdasarian, and a
senior member of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian's Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK) told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that the
defections were intended to pressure Baghdasarian to step down as
parliament speaker. But Galust Sahakian, who heads the HHK parliament
faction, told Noyan Tapan on May 10 that his party will not demand
Baghdasarian's resignation as speaker or a vote of no confidence in
him. LF

Yury Merzlyakov, the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group that
seeks to mediate a solution to the Karabakh conflict, told Azerbaijan
Press Agency that "there will never be a more opportune moment" for
resolving the conflict than the present, Azerbaijani media reported on
May 10 and 11. Merzlyakov said the Minsk Group is awaiting a response
from both Armenia and Azerbaijan to "new details" intended to flesh out
existing points of agreement presented during his visit to Baku and
Yerevan last week by French Minsk Group co-Chairman Bernard Fassier
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 4 and 9, 2006), but he declined to say what
those new details are. The co-chairs are to meet in Strasbourg next
week with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, who will
then decide whether the two countries' presidents should also meet to
discuss the peace process. LF

Police on May 10 closed down seven workshops in western Georgia that
engaged in producing adulterated wine and brought criminal proceedings
against the owners, Caucasus Press reported. Russia imposed a total ban
in late March on the import of wine from Georgia on the grounds that
such adulterated wines are harmful to human health (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," March 28 and April 25, 2006). Also on May 10, Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili produced at a cabinet session bottles of
fake Georgian wine purchased in Spain, Bulgaria, and the Baltic states,
and he lambasted the Agriculture and Justice Ministries for failing to
prevent the production and export of such products, the independent
station television Rustavi-2 reported. LF

Speaking on May 11 on a state visit to Tbilisi, Arnold Ruutel urged the
Georgian government to speed up reforms, Caucasus Press reported. He
also urged the Georgian government to introduce additional measures to
protect foreign investors' interests and preclude double taxation. On
May 10, it was announced that former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar
will become an adviser to Saakashvili, Caucasus Press reported. Laar
told journalists he will coordinate the work of various government
ministries in implementing reforms. His salary will be paid by the
United Nations. Former Polish National Bank Chairman Leszek Balcerowicz
similarly served from 2000-03 as an adviser to Saakashvili's
predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze. LF

Speaking at a press conference in Astana on May 10, U.S. Ambassador to
Kazakhstan John Ordway praised the planned oil pipeline from Kazakhstan
to China as "a good idea" and affirmed U.S. support for the project,
Interfax reported. The ambassador also suggested that "there is much
advantage in having multiple export routes" and added that a potential
gas pipeline to China would also be "a good idea." The ambassador's
press conference follows a recent visit to Astana by U.S. Vice
President Dick Cheney, during which the possibility of a gas pipeline
beneath the Caspian Sea connecting Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan was also
discussed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 9, 2006). RG

[14] ...AND OFFERS U.S. SUPPORT FOR PLANNED KAZAKH NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

In comments during the same Astana press conference on May 10,
Ambassador Ordway declared that the United States does "not have any
objections to the construction of a nuclear power plant by Kazakhstan"
and pledged that "we have already offered our assistance if Kazakhstan
makes such a decision," according to Interfax. Ordway added that, given
U.S. experience with nuclear energy, "we could ensure a very good
exchange of experts" on environmental and safety matters. Kazakhstan
first raised the possibility of building a new nuclear power plant in
1998 and the proposal was aired again by Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal
Akhmetov in January 2006. EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs also
raised the issue during a recent visit to Astana, urging Kazakh
officials to sign an agreement with the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom) about its use of nuclear power (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," May 5, 2006). RG

Rysbek Akmatbaev, a reputed crime boss, was killed on May 10 in a
shooting by unknown assailants, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service and AKIpress
reported. Akmatbaev was shot in broad daylight in the village of
Kokjar, just outside the capital Bishkek. Akmatbaev had recently won a
parliamentary by-election in his hometown district of Balykchy, but the
Central Election Commission refused to endorse his victory as
Akmatbaev's acquittal in January 2006 on murder charges was due to go
to appeal. Akmatbaev was accused of murdering the Kyrgyz Interior
Ministry's chief anticorruption investigator, Chynybek Aliev. He had
previously been acquitted of charges related to the 2003 murder of
Khavaji Zaurbekov, the brother-in-law of an ethnic Chechen crime boss
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 1, 2005). RG

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev on May 10 announced a reshuffle of
his cabinet ministers, AKIpress and Kabar reported. The changes
included the appointments of former Prosecutor-General Busurmankul
Tabaldiev to replace the recently resigned Tashtemir Aitbaev as head of
the National Security Service, and Deputy Prime Minister Adakham
Madumarov to replace outgoing State Secretary Dastan Sarygulov, who on
May 10 submitted a letter of resignation to Bakiev "for the sake of the
country's stability." Bakiev also appointed Daniyar Usenov to replace
Medetbek Kerimkulov, as first deputy prime minister. Kerimkulov was
named the new minister for industry, trade, and tourism. The opposition
Union of Democratic Forces had repeatedly demanded the removal of
Aitbaev and Sarygulov and a number of other key Kyrgyz officials (see
"RFE/RL Central Asia Report," April 28, 2006). Additional changes
included the transfer of Usen Sydykov from his post as head of the
Kyrgyz presidential administration to a position as adviser to the
president and the appointment of Ishengul Boljurova as a new deputy
prime minister, AKIpress reported. RG

An unidentified official in the Tajik Prosecutor-General's Office in
Dushanbe said on May 10 that three police officers have been arrested
in connection with the death of an opposition party activist, Avesta
and Asia-Plus reported. Sadullo Marufov, a member of the Islamic
Revival Party of Tajikistan, fell to his death from the third floor of
a police station in the northern town of Isfara on May 4 after being
detained by police on May 3 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 5, 2006). RG

A Tajik delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Asadullo Ghulomov
concluded a set of new agreements on energy cooperation with Pakistan
during a May 8-9 visit to Islamabad, Asia-Plus reported. The
negotiations included an agreement to build an electricity power line
to Pakistan and a commitment by Pakistan to import some 4 billion kWh
of electricity annually from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The agreements
follow an earlier memorandum of understanding about electricity exports
to Pakistan signed in Dushanbe in March 2005. RG

Officials of the Russian engineering firm Tekhnospetsstal signed a
contract with Uzbekistan's Chkalov Tashkent Aviation Production
Association to purchase 30 aircraft by 2008, ITAR-TASS reported on May
10. The director of the Uzbek company, Vadim Kucherov, hailed the sale
of the IL-114 planes as one of the country's largest in recent years
and as an important entry into the Russian market. The Uzbek plant also
produces IL-76 cargo planes and wing parts for giant Antonov AN-70
cargo planes. RG

Tashkent Islamic University professor Nurliman Abdulhasan warned on May
10 of the growing threat from Islamist extremism throughout Central
Asia, according to Interfax. Speaking at an academic conference in
Tashkent, the scholar added that although these groups are increasingly
diverse, they are actively engaged in efforts "to initiate strong ties
with religious extremist organizations abroad and to involve the latter
in the training of militant groups and providing material and technical
support for their activities." He also estimated that there are more
than 5,000 members of the outlawed Hizb ut-Tahrir organization
currently operating in Kyrgyzstan. Abdulhasan bemoaned a lack of
regional cooperation in combating these groups and specifically
criticized Kyrgyzstan for "failing to take serious measures against
religious extremist organizations." RG

A district court in Minsk on May 10 sentenced opposition youth activist
Artur Finkevich to two years of enforced labor, finding him guilty of
spraying antipresidential graffiti on walls in the Belarusian capital,
RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Belapan reported. Finkevich was initially
charged with malicious hooliganism and causing the state an estimated
$16,000 in material damage, which could have entailed a sentence of
seven to 12 years in prison (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 4 and 5, 2006).
Finkevich was held in custody between February 1 and May 10. Since each
day spent in pretrial detention by a person sentenced to enforced labor
counts as two, Finkevich's remaining term will be less than 18 months.
"The conditions in jail were, of course, inhuman. There were 17 people
in a cell intended for 10. We lacked air all the time," Finkevich told
journalists after the verdict. "I disagree with the verdict but I see
no sense in appealing it," he added. JM

Riot police broke up a demonstration held by several dozen young people
in downtown Minsk on May 10, Belapan reported. Demonstrators formed a
"chain of concerned people" on October Square at 6 p.m. local time,
while displaying images of former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka and
former Central Election Commission Chairman Viktar Hanchar, who
mysteriously disappeared in 1999. Police reportedly detained United
Civic Party leader Anatol Lyabedzka for a short time as he headed for
the demonstration. "I was seized by seven or eight plainclothesmen,"
Lyabedzka told Belapan. "They used force and tore my clothes. I
resisted as I could." The officers subsequently took him to a police
station. "I was told there: 'Anatol Uladzimiravich [Lyabedzka], we will
be keeping you here for three hours to verify your identity,'"
Lyabedzka claimed. JM

President Viktor Yushchenko has signed a decree under which the terms
of compulsory military service for several categories of draftees will
be lowered, Interfax-Ukraine reported on May 10. In particular, the
term of service for the Ground Forces was cut from 18 to 12 months and
for the Navy from 24 to 18 months. Conscripts with university diplomas
will now have to serve nine months instead of 12. The decree also
raises the age limit for contract servicemen from 30 to 40 years. JM

A recent poll has found that 42 percent of Ukrainians favor the
participation of the Party of Regions led by former Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych in a future governing coalition, while 35 percent of
Ukrainians say such a coalition should be a replica of the Orange
Revolution alliance and include just the Our Ukraine bloc, the Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialist Party, Interfax-Ukraine reported on
May 10. The poll was conducted from April 14-30 among 2,038 respondents
by the Kyiv Center of Political Studies and Conflict Studies jointly
with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. JM

Police in Germany announced on May 10 that they have arrested an ethnic
Albanian man suspected of committing war crimes in Kosova, Reuters
reported. The police declined to identify the 38-year-old man, but
Reuters quoted an unidentified UN official as saying he is Xhemail
Gashi. Prosecutors in Germany say the suspect oversaw a prison camp run
by the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) between June and October 1998. "He
is accused of abducting numerous people in 1998 to a prison camp in
Drenovac, Prizren, and to have tortured, abused, and, in some cases,
killed them," the prosecutors said in a statement. "There has been no
trace since that time of the victims, kidnapped at various times from
their home or workplace. They are believed to be dead," the statement
continued. The UN Mission in Kosova has requested that Germany
extradite the man to Kosova to face charges there. BW

Serbian police on May 9 arrested a retired army officer who worked as a
driver for war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, dpa and AFP reported the
next day, citing local media reports. Blagoje Govedarica is the sixth
person suspected of helping Mladic arrested this year. Govedarica is a
noncommissioned officer in Serbia and Montenegro's army, AFP reported,
citing B92 radio. Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador in Belgrade, Michael
Polt, said Washington is considering joining Brussels in punishing
Serbia, AFP reported on May 10. The EU broke off talks with Belgrade on
a Stabilization and Association Agreement on May 3 after Serbia failed
to arrest Mladic by an April 30 deadline (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 4,
2006). "At the end of this month the secretary of state [Condoleezza
Rice] will have to make a decision in terms of Serbia-Montenegro's
cooperation with the international tribunal in The Hague," he said.
"That may very well have an effect on some of our assistance to the
central government of Serbia." BW

NATO announced on May 10 that it has streamlined its decision-making
and command structure in Kosova in order to respond more quickly to
outbreaks of ethnic violence, Reuters reported the same day. Spokesman
Colonel Pio Sabetta said the KFOR peacekeeping force will complete a
change from four brigades to five "task forces" within the next five
days. The switch began in late 2005. Under the new structure, the KFOR
commander "can quickly move forces from one place to another in
response to any threat while NATO and contributing nations are able to
reinforce their troops quickly," Sabetta said. NATO implemented the
changes after facing criticism that it was slow to respond to riots in
March 2004, when Albanian mobs attacked Serbian enclaves. Nineteen
people died in the violence (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 17, 18, 19
and 22, 2004). BW

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on May 10 that it will
provide Chisinau with a three-year, $118.2 million loan to support the
country's currency reserves and provide protection from foreign
financial upheavals, Interfax reported the same day. Johann Matissen,
the IMF permanent representative in Chisinau, said the fund's board of
directors approved a three-year agreement with Moldova under its
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program. "The program is a
discount mechanism to provide loans to low-income countries," he said.
"The loan is being provided at an annual interest rate of 0.5 percent
for 10 years with a grace period of 5 1/2 years." BW

In a lengthy interview published in the Rome-based daily "La
Repubblica" on May 10, purported Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif said
the movement has "no specific strategy" but adopts "different tactics,"
depending on operational circumstances. Mohammad Hanif described
suicide operations as part of the "various techniques in a war of
liberation." When volunteers seek to conduct suicide missions, he said,
"we support them...[and] view them as martyrs." Asked about the burning
of schools and killing of employees of nongovernmental organizations,
Mohammad Hanif responded that the Taliban has its "principles," and
added that the movement fights "against everything that is a clear
expression of" the government of President Hamid Karzai. While the
Taliban oppose the cultivation of opium poppies, Mohammad Hanif said,
his movement is "happy with any means of combating Western societies"
who "seek death" by using opium and heroin. He also said the Taliban
have had no "operational ties" with Al-Qaeda, but added that the two
movements have "tactical alliances based on given circumstances and
territorial situations." Mohammad Hanif referred to Hizb-e Islami
leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as "a great fighter" but did not confirm the
existence of any alliance between his movement and Hekmatyar. The ranks
of the Taliban include combatants from "different [Muslim] countries,"
Mohammad Hanif added. AT

At a gathering in Gardez on May 10 to encourage students to support the
central government, Paktiya Province Governor Hakim Taniwal said the
burden of proof is on "opponents of the government" to prove that
Afghanistan is outside the realm of Islam -- in which case "we would
also join them in jihad," Pajhwak Afghan News reported. Otherwise,
Taniwal said, "they have to stop their disruptive activities."
Referring to the neo-Taliban as "opponents of government," Taniwal
invited them to "come and talk about a logic-based Shari'a [Islamic
jurisprudence]." In classical Islamic theory, a jihad can only be waged
in non-Islamic lands, or "dar al-harb" (abode of war). During the
ceremony, Taniwal accused neighboring Pakistan of trying to weaken
Afghanistan. AT

Two farmers were killed and three policemen sustained serious injuries
in an armed clash between security forces and opium-poppy farmers in
Sar-e Pol Province on May 9, Herat-based Sada-ye Jawan Radio reported
on May 10. General Nader Fahimi, security commander in Sar-e Pol,
blamed the farmers for starting the shooting during a poppy-eradication
effort. Provincial security headquarters and prosecutors have launched
an investigative commission to look into the incident. Sar-e Pol
Governor Iqbal Monib accused the farmers of having "attacked police
with guns," AFP reported on May 10. AT

Pakistani intelligence units arrested commander Ilyaskhayl on May 8 as
he was traveling between Barra and Peshawar, the Peshawar-based daily
"Wahdat" reported on May 9. Ilyaskhayl was sought by authorities for
allegedly helping Osama bin Laden escape from the Tora Bora mountains
as U.S. forces were approaching in late 2001. Ilyaskhayl has been taken
to an undisclosed location, the report added. Ilyaskhayl worked for
Hazrat Ali, a local Afghan warlord recruited by the United States to
help in the fight against Al-Qaeda. Hazrat Ali reportedly paid
Ilyaskhayl to try to block bin Laden's escape route from Tora Bora to
Pakistan. The Arabs allegedly paid a higher sum to Ilyaskhayl,
prompting him to allow passage to the Al-Qaeda chief and his entourage.
AT

A deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Saidi, and
another official, Mahmud Jannatian, went to Moscow on May 10 for talks
with Russia's Atomic Energy Agency head Sergei Kiriyenko, the "Aftab-i
Yazd" daily reported on 11 May. Saidi told the Mehr news agency on May
10 that he will discuss the completion of the nuclear power plant at
Bushehr, which Russia is helping build, and future fuel supplies to the
plant. He said Russia is interested in taking part in a tender to build
two 1,000-megawatt nuclear plants for Iran. The tender is currently
being drafted and the documents will be presented "in the coming
months," Saidi said. The same day, during a visit to Indonesia,
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad dismissed Western doubts over the peaceful
nature of Iran's nuclear program as a "big lie," and said Western
states merely wish to monopolize the market for nuclear technology, AP
reported. Western states are to present Iran with new incentives to
encourage it to abandon activities viewed as suspect, such as fuel
production, agencies reported. Representatives of the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council and Germany are to meet in London on
May 19 to discuss the package, AFP reported on May 10, citing
unidentified diplomats. VS

John Calabrese, an analyst at Washington's Middle East Institute, told
RFE/RL's Radio Farda on May 10 that Iran's considerable oil revenues
and international fears that oil prices could rise if the UN imposes
sanctions on Iran over its nuclear dossier are helping Iran in the
current diplomatic crisis. Fragile relations between the United States
and Russia have also helped Iran conclude that this is a good time to
push its positions over the dossier, Calabrese said. Another observer,
James Phillips of the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington,
concurred that Iran has ample oil revenues, but said its economy
remains corrupt and inefficient, and offers young Iranians only limited
prospects. Separately, at a security conference in Geneva, the
permanent U.S. envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Gregory
Schulte, questioned why Iran has not disclosed all its nuclear
activities if its program is peaceful, as it states, Radio Farda
reported on May 10. He also asked how it is possible to negotiate with
an Iranian leadership that believes Israel should not exist. VS

Parliamentary speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel said in parliament on May
10 that President Ahmadinejad's recent letter to U.S. President George
W. Bush should not be seen as a move to renew relations with the United
States, the news agency ISNA reported. Ties between the two countries
were severed after the 1979 revolution. "Some inside and outside the
country have interpreted this letter as if [Ahmadinejad] wanted to end
the absence of relations over 27 years," he said. The letter,
Hadded-Adel said, showed the United States that Iranians are a
cultured, peaceful, and religious nation. Former President Mohammad
Khatami told the press on May 10 that diplomatic initiatives "should be
done with a strategic view and with due attention" to Iran's "interests
and overall policies," ISNA reported. "I am not really informed of the
system's present strategy" for contacts with the United States, he
said, but "the president must follow the system's overall policies."
Legislator Ismail Gerami-Moqaddam told ISNA on May 10 that the letter
mostly contains "historical subjects" and makes no "specific request of
Bush about the present situation and the [nuclear] dossier." VS

The national chief of police, Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, said on May 10
that U.S. troops in Afghanistan constitute "the greatest source of
threat to the country's eastern borders," and that "destabilizing
[Iran] is the first stage of their sinister aims" against Islam, ISNA
reported. He said Iran's enemies "have begun a Cold War against us,"
though they "are not visibly mobilizing any armies." This war, he said,
includes the activities of bandits in eastern Iran that are "backed by
foreign forces." He included satellite broadcasting and the Internet,
which "are all guided from across the frontier," in this "cold,
psychological war," and urged the government, as a security measure, to
create jobs for people living near the country's borders, ISNA
reported. Separately, Javad Jafari, the head of security affairs in the
western province of Kermanshah, told IRNA on May 10 that police and
security forces have obtained "clues" about two recent explosions in
the city of Kermanshah (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 9, 2006). He said
that, while nobody claimed responsibility for the bombs, it is clear to
"relevant forces that the [culprits] were guided from across the
border," IRNA reported. VS

Iranian envoy Hasan Kazemi-Qomi presented his credentials to Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani on May 9 as the first Iranian ambassador to
Iraq in more than 25 years, according to a May 10 press release on the
Iraqi Foreign Ministry website (http://www.iraqmofa.net). Kazemi-Qomi,
previously Iran's highest-ranking official in Iraq, said after the
meeting that providing help to Iraq is Iran's sole duty to its eastern
neighbor, the press release noted. "Upgrading the level of relations
between the two countries will open a new page in the history of ties
between the two countries," Talabani told Kazemi-Qomi, IRNA reported on
May 10. KR

Jalal Talabani said in a May 10 statement that 1,091 citizens were
killed in Baghdad in April, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported the same
day. "We feel shocked, sad, and angry when we receive almost daily
reports of finding unidentified bodies and others who were killed on
the basis of their identity," he said. "If we add to that the number of
bodies that were not found, or similar crimes in other governorates,
then the total number calls for deep concern and rage." Talabani said
that sectarian attacks are adding to an atmosphere of distrust among
various communities, noting, "Each drop of blood spilt is watering the
fields of evil and is growing the seeds of division." KR

Security forces operating in Baghdad will be restructured to fall under
the control of one commander, "The New York Times" reported on May 11.
According to senior Iraqi leaders, all police officers and paramilitary
soldiers will fall under a single commander and wear the same uniform.
"No one knows who is who right now -- we have tens of thousands of
forces," Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi said. "We need a unified
force to secure Baghdad: same uniform, same patrol car, one commander."
Iraqi militias and people wearing the uniforms of security forces have
been blamed for sectarian abductions and killings in the capital. Part
of the problem stems from the ability to purchase police uniforms and
other equipment at open markets. President Talabani confirmed the plan
to "The New York Times," saying that if it is implemented, "Baghdad can
be secured in one month." KR

Al-Sharqiyah television on May 10 cited Iraqi officials as identifying
some ministerial nominations, though it reported that the key posts of
oil and defense have yet to be settled. Iraqi National List member
Wa'il Abd al-Latif told the news channel that his bloc expects to fill
the post of defense minister, along with the Planning, Education, and
Governorate Affairs ministries, which will be headed by Mahdi al-Hafiz,
Mufid al-Jaza'iri, and Abd al-Latif, respectively. United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA) member Baha al-Araji told Al-Sharqiyah that Iraqi
Accordance Front member Salam al-Zawba'i and Kurdistan Coalition member
Barham Salih have been nominated as deputy prime ministers. He added
that outgoing Central Bank Governor Sinan al-Shibibi has been nominated
as finance minister. Al-Araji also claimed that UIA member Husayn
al-Shahristani has been nominated as oil minister. Al-Sharqiyah
reported that competing blocs have argued that an oil expert, such as
former Oil Minister Thamir al-Ghadban, be assigned to the post. KR

Five suspected insurgents escaped from a U.S. military prison near
Al-Sulaymaniyah on May 9, a U.S. military spokesman announced on May
10, Reuters reported the same day. The spokesman said the escape was
considered an isolated incident, adding that the remaining 1,300
inmates were accounted for. A Kurdish security official told Reuters
that the men escaped through a window. KR

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's recent criticism of Russia for using
natural gas as a political weapon is by no means new. Similar charges
leveled 24 years ago during the Cold War resulted in an embargo on the
sale of gas-extracting equipment to the Soviet Union and to the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) purported destruction of a Soviet
gas pipeline.

In 1982, as the Soviet Union was beginning construction of a $22
billion, 4,650-kilometer gas pipeline from Urengoi in northwest Siberia
to Uzhhorod in Ukraine with the intention of supplying Western Europe,
the CIA issued a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) titled "The
Soviet Gas Pipeline in Perspective."

The NIE, regarded as the definitive product of the U.S. intelligence
community, reached several conclusions, among them that the Soviet
Union "calculates that the increased future dependence of the West
Europeans on Soviet gas deliveries will make them more vulnerable to
Soviet coercion and will become a permanent factor in their decision
making on East-West issues."

In addition, according to the NIE, the Soviets "have used the pipeline
issue to create and exploit divisions between Western Europe and the
United States. In the past, the Soviets have used West European
interest in expanding East-West commerce to undercut U.S. sanctions,
and they believe successful pipeline deals will reduce European
willingness to support future U.S. economic actions against the USSR."

The Urengoi gas field, located in northwest Siberia's Yamalo-Nenets
Autonomous Okrug, was one of the largest Soviet gas fields. The main
customers for Urengoi gas were West Germany, France, and Italy.

The initial volume of the pipeline was to be 40 billion cubic meters
per year, which would mean that Soviet gas could account for 30 percent
of German and French gas imports, and 40 percent of Italy's. Such
figures were approaching a dependency level too great for the White
House to accept.

Washington apparently dealt with these concerns in a direct manner
initially. In January 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan purportedly
approved a CIA plan to sabotage a second, unidentified gas pipeline in
Siberia by turning the Soviet Union's desire for Western technology
against it. The operation was first disclosed in the memoirs of Thomas
C. Reed, a former Air Force secretary who was serving in the National
Security Council at the time. In "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of
the Cold War," Reed wrote:

"In order to disrupt the Soviet gas supply, its hard-currency earnings
from the West, and the internal Russian economy, the pipeline software
that was to run the pumps, turbines, and valves was programmed to go
haywire, after a decent interval, to reset pump speeds and valve
settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to pipeline
joints and welds.

"The result was the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever
seen from space," he recalled, adding that U.S. satellites picked up
the explosion. Reed said in an interview that the blast occurred in the
summer of 1982.

The sabotage operation, however, did not halt the construction of the
Urengoi pipeline. The CIA was forced to revise its tactics.

Responding to the Soviet leadership's support for the 1981 crackdown on
Poland's Solidarity movement, Reagan announced a program of sanctions
on companies selling gas-drilling equipment and turbines for
gas-compressor stations to the Soviet Union while urging European
states not to buy Soviet gas.

Officially it was declared that this was in retaliation for Soviet
support for martial law in Poland. But it is also plausible that the
strategy was meant to ease U.S. concerns about the construction of the
Urengoi-Uzhhorod gas pipeline.

The embargo, however, was easier to declare than to implement.
Norwegian scholar Ole Gunnar Austvik wrote in an article titled "The
U.S. Embargo of Soviet Gas in 1982" that a delegation under the
auspices of the U.S. State Department sought to induce the Western
Europeans not to buy Soviet gas and to choose alternative sources of
energy.

"The arguments in favor of such diversion were close to our notion of
economic warfare, even though the whole range of arguments was actually
used. An economically strong Soviet Union is more dangerous than a weak
one," Austvik wrote. "The U.S. compensation package contained two main
components; American coal and Norwegian gas were presented as
alternatives to Soviet gas."

Neither alternative, however, existed. The United States did not
produce enough coal to meet Europe's needs and even if it did, the
logistics of transporting it there were overwhelming. Furthermore, at
the time Norway's gas production was not sufficient to replace Soviet
gas. By November 1982, after the United States increased its grain
sales to the USSR, the gas sanctions were terminated.

Originally, the Urengoi pipeline was projected to go through East
Germany, but the West German government protested and it was rerouted
through Ukraine. The West Germans were concerned that in the event of a
crisis, the East Germans could turn off the valves and stop supplies.
Ukraine was seen as the more reliable transit route.

The 1982 NIE states that the West Europeans' prime energy goal at the
time was to "reduce their dependence on OPEC," at the time a
significant Western concern arising from the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil boycott of 1973. The oil crisis that
ensued from that boycott may have fueled U.S. concerns regarding Soviet
gas, lest the Soviet Union someday copy OPEC's tactic.

In November 1983, the CIA issued another NIE, titled "Soviet Energy
Prospects Into the 1990s," which, in many ways, foresaw the current
predicament.

"If Moscow lands contracts to supply even half of the West European
gas-demand gap now foreseen for the 1990s, an additional
pipeline...would be required...and dependence on Soviet gas could
approach 50 percent of gas consumption for major West European
countries, far in excess of the 30 percent share that we and some West
European governments regard as a critical threshold for political risk"
the NIE stated.